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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26055322">Endgame</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneElliot/pseuds/Jane%20Elliot'>Jane Elliot (JaneElliot)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>After the Void [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>StarCraft (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Banter, F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:53:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,125</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26055322</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneElliot/pseuds/Jane%20Elliot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the final battle.  Everyone shows up.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sarah Kerrigan/Jim Raynor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>After the Void [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/417615</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Ulnar</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jim’s forces met in the entrance to the Ulnar temple, the colossal space making even the combined mass of the two Protoss factions look small and the small knot of Terrans look positively tiny.</p><p>Glancing over the masses of Protoss, Jim winced as he saw several fights break out.  Apparently the Daelaam and the Tal'darim were still working out their issues.</p><p>Artanis looked pained by the fights, but before he could say anything, Alarak strode forward.  "Jim Raynor.  It appears you are not as dead as rumors would have us believe."</p><p>"That's me," Jim said.  "Less dead than rumored."</p><p>"And it seems the same can be said of Amon," Alarak added snidely.  He turned to Artanis.  "I had not expected much of the Daelaam.  Clearly I shouldn't have expected anything at all."</p><p>"If you expected so little, perhaps you should have aided us in the final battle," Artanis snapped back.  Behind Artanis, the cluster of Protoss executors glared at Alarak furiously.</p><p>Jim felt a headache coming on.</p><p>"It's not Amon," Sarah's voice said loudly, before Alarak could piss off Artanis even further.</p><p>"Finally," Jim said, turning toward Sarah.  "Where have you..." His words trailed off as he saw she was wearing the Queen of Blades.  It made sense, seeing as she'd been in charge of gathering up the Zerg, but it was still a little startling.  She hadn't worn that form for years.  Not since she'd turned into a Xel'Naga.</p><p>Jim was surprised to find himself feeling a bit nostalgic.  Even the ridiculous stiletto heels built into her carapace made him smile instead of rolling his eyes, though -- not for the first time -- he wondered exactly what the Overmind was thinking when he designed her infested form.</p><p>"Kerrigan," Artanis said, sounding startled.  "We weren't sure you survived the defeat of Amon."</p><p>"It amazes me how consistently you live down to my expectations," Alarak told him.</p><p>Selendis was looking positively murderous, so Jim cut in hastily.  "Like Sarah said, it's not Amon.  It's Narud."</p><p>That caught everyone's attention.  "Amon's little lapdog?" Alarak asked.  "Are you sure?"</p><p>"We're sure," Sarah said, coming to stand next to Jim.  "Hello, Jim."</p><p>"Sarah.  You took your time."</p><p>"Convincing Zagara took more time than I'd hoped.  Finding Stukov took even longer.  Then I collected Niadra's brood, since she's the only one who wasn't under Zagara's control."  She glanced over to the side, where the very small contingent of Terrans was standing scrupulously clear of the Protoss in-fighting.  "You're welcome."</p><p>Matt, standing a few feet in front of the Terran group with Swann at his side, looked deeply unimpressed.  "I'm not thanking you for solving a problem you created in the first place, Kerrigan."</p><p>Sarah smiled.  She'd always found Matt's dislike of her amusing.  Jim felt his headache getting worse.  "Let's stick to the matter at hand.  Narud is back."</p><p>There was a general murmur of exasperation.</p><p>"That bastard has more lives than a cat," Stukov snarled.  "What will it take to kill him once and for all?"</p><p>"If we work as one, we can defeat anything," Artanis declared.</p><p>"How did that work out for you last time?" Alarak asked.</p><p>"You can leave at any time," Vorazun said pointedly.  "Frankly, I'm not sure why you are here.  You opted out of the last battle in the Void."</p><p>"Last time I was under the impression that you were competent.  I've learned better."</p><p>"Also, Narud's shadow army wiped out a battalion of Tal'darim on Altheon," Jim offered, ignoring Alarak’s visible irritation at Jim sharing this information.  "Along with a bunch of Zerg."</p><p>Zagara let out a loud chittering noise.  Several Terrans flinched back.  Matt crossed his arms, his expression conveying the distinct impression of a man who was wishing he’d delegated this mission out to someone else.</p><p>A wave of blue light between Jim and the Protoss revealed Nova.  "Just point me in the right direction," she said.  "I'll take care of this."</p><p>A wave of red light on Jim's other side revealed Tosh.  "Please, little girl.  All you'll do is annoy him with your potshots.  The spectre will kill Narud."</p><p>"Silence, feeble creatures!" Zagara shouted.  "Our Queen wishes to speak!"</p><p>Everyone started yelling at once.  Sarah sighed, loud enough that Jim could hear her even over the cacophony that surrounded them.  “How long has this been going on?”</p><p>“Pretty much since we arrived,” Jim said.</p><p>“Then it’s been going on long enough.”  Sarah waved her arm.  Abruptly the room was silent, though mouths were still moving.</p><p>"Enough," Sarah said, her voice crackling with power.  "No one is killing Narud but me, because no one <em>can</em> kill Narud but me.  Unfortunately, I can't attack him head-on without running the risk of him faking his death, again, and putting us right back where we started.”</p><p>By the time she ended her speech, everyone had stopped trying to talk and were staring at Sarah with a general air of resentment.</p><p>Sarah turned to the person nearest her.  “Tosh, the spectres are here because Narud's shadows seem vulnerable to psionic attack, like mindblast.  The spectres will be the main Terran offensive force."</p><p>Tosh sent Nova a smug look.</p><p>"Nova, the ghosts are here to snipe any shadows who are in the middle of attacking our people or our structures, because that's when they're corporeal.  Your job is to protect our allies."</p><p>Nova sneered back at Tosh.</p><p>"Matt and Swann, you're here to organize defense for everyone, hopefully with the help of the Protoss, because the shadows have to become corporeal to attack Protoss shielding.”</p><p>Swann waved at Karax, who eagerly waved back with all of his arms, including the mechanical ones.  Matt smiled at the Protoss politely. </p><p>“The Protoss are here because of their shields.”</p><p>Artanis looked long-suffering.  The rest of the executors looked resentful.  Vorazun’s veneer of calm looked on the verge of cracking.</p><p>"The Zerg are here because no one can withstand the numbers of the swarm."</p><p>Zagara looked gleeful, as far as Jim could tell.  It was hard to be sure with the Zerg.</p><p>"And you," Sarah said, turning to Alarak, "are here because you are a smug, condescending, manipulative son of a bitch, which means you're the closest thing we have to Narud.  If you were a mostly-invulnerable, completely crazy former god in the middle of your seat of power, how would we kill you?"</p><p>“As it happens,” Alarak said.  "I have a few ideas."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Void</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I hate Alarak so much,” Sarah groaned as she leaned back against the wall of the bunker.  She’d reverted back to her human shape – it took up much less space than her infested form.</p><p>“Join the club,” Jim said, shooting out of a gunport.  He didn’t have nearly the range of the ghost snipers, but his absurdly overpowered gun caused a lot more damage, so he was focusing on the larger shadows.</p><p>Next to Sarah, a ghost’s rifle went dry.  Sarah waved a hand and allowed herself a little smile when the ghost went to reload and discovered that her gun already had a full clip.  After a second, Sarah waved her hand again and the bullet counters on all of the guns changed to an infinity symbol.  She’d already arranged an infinite supply of minerals and gas.  Anything to speed up the end of this tedious grind.</p><p>“We’ve got some spare rifles,” Jim said pointedly when he noticed that his clip had stopped running dry.</p><p>Sarah sighed.  “This isn’t how I operate, Jim.  I lead from the front of my army.”   Usually she didn’t even <em>need</em> the army.  Most of the time, the Zerg were just there to speed up her victories so she could get to Mengsk faster.</p><p>“Yeah, we noticed,” Jim said dryly.  “But you come out too early and Narud’s just going to cut and run again.  So if you’ve gotten bored with working miracles, you might as well grab a gun and help us whittle down Narud’s forces.”</p><p>Sarah let out another sigh, but grabbed a rifle and settled in the space next to Jim.</p><p>(The ghost that had been sitting in that spot suddenly found himself in an entirely different bunker, this one full of spectres.  They all stared at each other for a long, awkward moment.</p><p>The ghost muttered, “Kerrigan.”</p><p>The spectres let out commiserating noises and turned their attention back to the battle.  The ghost settled down at a free port and joined in.  He discovered that shadows were corporeal when they were being hit with mindblast.  That was handy.)</p><p>“How many of these things do you think there are, anyway?” Sarah asked as she sniped a shadow hydralisk that had knocked Artanis to the ground.  All of the recognizable Zerg and Protoss heroes and leaders were standing in the middle of a Terran-made defensive position consisting of dozens of shielded bunkers and supply depots, backed by siege tanks.  The shadows were causing a lot of damage, but everything was constantly being repaired, thanks to a veritable army of SCVs.</p><p>(Apparently the siege tanks had been upgraded.  “They can <em>fly</em> now,” Swann had said enthusiastically.</p><p>Sarah couldn’t be the only person wondering why siege tanks needed to fly.)</p><p>“No idea,” Jim answered, as a lucky shot caught half a dozen shadows that had the misfortune to all be in a single line when they attacked.  “Of course, I have no idea how many we’ve killed, either.  The bodies just dissolve into smoke.”</p><p>“It’s been a couple thousand so far,” Sarah said.  She didn’t bother with a specific number, since that number was changing every second or two. </p><p>Jim looked at her. </p><p>“What?  I can’t <em>not</em> know.”</p><p>“How is it your Xel’Naga brain knows exactly how many shadows we’ve killed, but somehow doesn’t know how many shadows Narud made?”</p><p>“Because the Void and the universe are two distinct regions and information doesn’t flow between the two.  If I’d been in the Void when Narud was making the shadows, I think I’d know how many he made.”</p><p>Jim frowned.  “If Xel’Naga know everything that is happening in the realm around them, how is it possible that Narud doesn’t know you’re here?”</p><p>“I’m shielding myself from him.  Narud might be clever, but he’s not that powerful.”</p><p>“Hm,” Jim said, and refocused his attention outside the bunker.  They settled into a companionable silence as they continued to shoot at shadows.</p><p>After an interminable period of slaughter, Jim said, “I never thought I’d say this, but I think the Protoss are starting to get tired.”</p><p>Sarah frowned as she and Jim both fired multiple shots into a shadow ultralisk until it finally went down.  The Protoss <em>were</em> starting to slow.  “You might be right, but I think…”  She considered how many shadows had been killed in the last few minutes.  “I think there are fewer shadow reinforcements.”</p><p>“Finally,” Jim said with a relieved sigh.  “How’s everyone holding up?”</p><p>Sarah let her awareness run over their forces.  “The spectres are all out of juice.”</p><p>Several ghosts smirked at that.</p><p>“Minor losses among the Protoss, mostly among the mechanical units, so they might be repairable.  Massive Zerg losses.”</p><p>“Of course,” Jim murmured.</p><p>“It looks like the bait is still fully intact.”</p><p>Jim rolled his eyes.  “Do you have to keep calling them ‘the bait’?”</p><p>“What do expect me to call them, Jim?  They’re the bait.”</p><p>“They’re our allies.  They’re heroes.”</p><p>Mostly, Sarah thought, they were self-righteous (Artanis and company), obnoxious (Alarak), and power-hungry (Zagara).  But they were – for the most part – Jim’s friends, and they were doing a pretty good job of acting as tempting targets to draw Narud out of the shadows, so she offered, “What if I called them the temptations?”</p><p>Jim laughed, in spite of himself.  “Now that you mention it, ‘the bait’ has a nice ring.”</p><p>Sarah smiled, just as the rifles around them slowly stopped firing.</p><p>“The shadows are gone,” Jim said, his voice hushed in the sudden silence.</p><p>“Alarak better be right about Narud,” Sarah muttered.</p><p>Everyone waited with baited breath.</p><p>Suddenly, a snide voice rang out, “Ah, the sad remnants of a failed cycle.  YOU THINK YOUR FEEBLE HEROES CAN STAND UP TO A GOD?  PATHETIC!”</p><p>“Well,” Sarah said, a triumphant smile overtaking her face.  “It’s about time.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The End</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the aftermath, the combined forces eyed the new kilometer-wide crater in the ground, looking a little stunned.</p><p>“That went much better than last time,” Sarah said, pleased.</p><p>“Last time you didn’t have me,” Alarak said.</p><p>Sarah rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers.  Alarak disappeared.</p><p>The stunned crowd took on an air of incredulity.</p><p>Jim rubbed a hand over his face.  “Sarah, did you just vaporize the Highlord of the Tal’darim?”</p><p>Several exhausted Protoss heroes perked up noticeably.</p><p>“No,” Sarah said, and the Protoss slumped back down again.  “You’ll find him in Ulnar,” she told them.</p><p>“You won’t be joining us, my Queen?” Zagara asked.</p><p>“My work here is done,” Sarah answered.  She waved a hand, and then grabbed Jim.  The combined Protoss, Zerg, and Terran forces glowed briefly golden as Sarah and Jim disappeared.</p><p>There was silence in the crater as everyone looked around.  “What’s going on here?” Nova asked after a minute.</p><p>Artanis rubbed his head.  “I think…”  He looked around.  “I think Narud is gone.  His death must have caused this crater.”</p><p>“The shockwave from the blast must have affected our memories,” Karax said.</p><p>There was a general sound of agreement from everyone except Matt, who was looking confused.  He turned to Swann and asked softly, “What do you remember?”</p><p>Swann frowned.  “I remember the shadows stopped coming and then… then Narud came, but after that I don’t remember anything.”</p><p>“You mean you don’t remember—” His throat closed up.  Matt frowned, coughed, and then tried again.  “You don’t remember that Narud was killed by—”  His throat closed off again, this time hard enough to stop his breathing for a second.</p><p>“Hey,” Swann said, sounding worried.  “You okay there, boss?”</p><p>“No.”  Matt scowled.  “That woman is the most irritating person in the universe.”</p><p>“What woman?” Swann asked.  “Mira Han?”</p><p>“Never mind,” Matt said with a sigh.  “Do you remember why we came to the Void in the first place?”</p><p>“You said Narud was back,” Swann said, sounding concerned.  “The Protoss told you, right?”</p><p>Which meant everyone had forgotten Jim, too.  This day was just getting better and better.</p><p>Zagara shifted position until she was standing next to Artanis.  “I am Zagara, Overqueen of the swarm.  Perhaps now would be a good time to discuss a peace treaty.”</p><p>Matt opened his mouth to ask why the Terrans weren’t being invited to this discussion when Niadra shrieked, “Traitor!” and spit a carapace missile directly into a zealot’s face.  Immediately, Niadra’s brood started in on the Protoss, who promptly staged a counterattack.</p><p>Artanis turned to look at Zagara.  “A rogue brood,” Zagara said innocently.</p><p>Artanis made an irritated noise and dove into the battle.  It didn’t look like it would be a particularly long-lived one.  Niadra might have been able to hold her own if she’d had her full force and the chance to pick her own battle ground, but on an open plain, after a long battle, and surrounded by the very best of the Protoss army, she didn’t have a chance.</p><p>Matt wasn’t going to cry any tears over her death.  Temporary ally or no, she’d been capturing and infesting Terrans for months and if she thought this was the best place to take on the Protoss, she clearly wasn’t in her right mind. </p><p>Stukov sauntered up next to Matt, pulling his attention away from the battle.  “Admiral Horner, is there any chance of me joining you?  I need to return to the Koprulu sector.”</p><p>“What happened your ride here?” Swann asked.</p><p>Stukov frowned.  “I came on Zagara’s leviathan, but the details on how that happened are oddly… hazy.  I hold no allegiance to Zagara or the swarm; I should not have been on her leviathan.”</p><p>Matt sighed.  Narud might be gone, but the universe was still a messy place.  Sometimes you had to pick your battles.  “I think we’re done here.  Stukov, we can give you a ride to Korhal.  From there you’re on your own.”</p><p>“Fair enough,” Stukov said.</p><p>Matt took one last look at the chaos behind him before turning to walk away, Swann and Stukov at his side and an army of ghosts and spectres at his back. </p><p>~~~</p><p>Apparently, even a being as powerful as Sarah Kerrigan was unable to teleport across the barrier between the universe and the Void in a single jump, which meant they had to touch down in Ulnar.  Sarah took the opportunity to engulf a furious Alarak in a golden glow before teleporting herself and Jim to their home base.</p><p>Sarah had seeded a lot of planets with life since she became a Xel’Naga and Jim had accompanied her to most of them, but this one – the first asteroid she’d experimented on – was their favorite.  When Jim had announced that he was ready to take a break from planet hopping, she’d shielded this asteroid from detection and accidental discovery.  Now, the only way to reach the planet was with Sarah, via teleportation, or Jim, via his dropship. </p><p>She landed them in the clearing in front of the door to Jim’s house.  Technically, it belonged to both of them, but since Sarah no longer needed to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe, and was impervious to all elements, including both molten rock and the absolute zero of outer space, she didn’t really see the point in having a house.  Jim, who quite enjoyed eating, drinking, and sleeping and wasn’t particularly interested in having Sarah cure him of those necessities, had built the house with his own hands, from materials he’d harvested from the asteroid.</p><p>Sarah had contributed by magically making the house pest-proof, water-proof, fire-proof, and air conditioned.  Jim had considered protesting, but decided that if he was going to live in the house for eternity, it might as well be comfortable.</p><p>There were still times when he struggled with the prospect of immortality, but he was getting better at filling his days.  Without a clock on his life, he realized that he quite enjoyed making things, now that he had time to focus on the process, rather than rushing to the final product. </p><p>His latest project was a desk, which he was carving by hand from local wood.  The desk was for Matt, and Jim did feel a little pressure to work faster than he had when he’d first started teaching himself carpentry.  Jim might have forever, but Matt did not.</p><p>Today was not a day for work, however, at least not for Jim.  He lifted the visor of his helmet and turned to Sarah.  “Do you have to go?”</p><p>It hadn’t taken long after Sarah had returned for Jim to realize that, while the Xel’Naga had managed to evolve past most of their biological imperatives, there was one that remained.  All Xel’Naga were driven to create life.  Even Sarah, who hadn’t been born a Xel’Naga, felt the urge.  Hell, that probably explained why Narud kept making shadow creatures, even though it ultimately led to his death.</p><p>No wonder the Xel’Naga failed to understand the threat that Amon posed.  It would be like a human being who didn’t feel thirst.  More than that, a human who didn’t feel thirst and was so offended by the very idea that other humans felt the need to drink, that he made it his life’s mission to eliminate water from the universe.  It was ridiculous.  And yet, if that anti-water human succeeded in his mission, he would be the most dangerous person in history.</p><p>Amon had come so close to achieving his goal.  So close to wiping out all life.  All light.  And if the cost of stopping Amon was a new Xel’Naga who was constantly disappearing to check in on her growing collection of worlds seeded with life, well, Jim couldn’t really complain.  At least she could teleport home every day and, since she didn’t have to sleep, she did a lot of her work at night.</p><p>“I’m okay for now,” she said, smiling.  “Want some help getting out of that armor?”</p><p>“Yes, please,” Jim said with feeling.  He gave her his best leer.  “And then we can get you out of that uniform.”</p><p>Sarah laughed and shook her head.  “Come on, let’s go inside.  That way the bed’ll be right there.”</p><p>“I like the way you think, darlin',” Jim told her and ducked into the building.</p><p>The house wasn’t a particularly large place, since it mostly was just for Jim and he’d opted to build a separate shop for his projects rather than make the house larger.  There was a small kitchenette right inside the door, where Jim experimented with cooking the food he hunted and gathered from the jungle that surrounded the house.  When his experiments failed, or when he was craving something from home, there was a cabinet on the wall that Sarah had magicked to produce anything Jim asked for.  He didn’t know how it worked, but sometimes he just really wanted a whisky or a plate of fries, and so far the cabinet had come through for him every time.</p><p>Beyond the kitchenette was the living area, with a couple of comfortable chairs and the bed beyond that.  Bookshelves lined the walls and there was a desk in one corner under a window for when Jim wanted to do some delicate work at night or when it was raining hard enough that running out to the shop wasn’t appealing.</p><p>The one area where there was undeniable luxury was the bathroom.  After spending the better part of his life between a desert and the cramped confines of spacecraft, Jim had come to really appreciate a long hot shower and a bathtub large enough for two people to enjoy at the same time.  With that in mind, Jim had built the walls and roof of the bathroom and left the rest to Sarah.</p><p>They spent an awful lot of time in that bathroom.  Jim grinned at the thought.</p><p>“What’s the holdup?” Sarah asked from behind Jim.  “That armor’s not going to remove itself.”</p><p>“What’s the rush?” Jim asked, turning around.  He froze, his tongue suddenly glued to the top of his mouth.</p><p>Sarah stood behind him, wearing the Queen of Blades.  “I saw you staring earlier,” she said as Jim’s armor did, in fact, proceed to remove itself.  “We haven’t tried anything with this form before.  What do you think?”</p><p>Jim continued to stare.  He and Sarah had a lot of years under their belt now, and both of them were willing to try just about anything.  Even so, this was well beyond anything they’d experimented with before.</p><p>Sarah frowned at his continued silence.  “Too kinky?”</p><p>“No,” Jim said hoarsely.  “Just kinky enough, I think.”</p><p>Sarah’s frown turned into a grin and she used her bone wings to push Jim onto the bed.  When he tried to prop himself up, she used them again, this time to hold him down.  “Now, now, Jim,” she said, her hips swaying as she sauntered close.  “Don’t you get it?  I’m the Queen of Blades.  <em>I’m</em> running this show.”</p><p>Jim grinned back.  “Whatever you say, ma’am.”</p><p>~~~</p><p>“Your elbow armor’s poking me,” Jim said as Sarah shifted, trying to find a position that was comfortable for both of them.  They were both sweaty and out of breath, and Jim was bone-tired.</p><p>Sarah shifted again, which resulted in the sound of tearing fabric.  Both of them glanced at the cap of Sarah’s shoulder, where the points of her armored carapace were poking a hole in the mattress.  Abruptly, Sarah was human again, her red hair flowing across her pillow like a flame.  “Better?”</p><p>“Much better,” Jim said, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close.  He nuzzled her temple.  “So what was that golden glow you covered everyone in before we left?”</p><p>“I took their memories of us.”</p><p>“Oh,” Jim said with a sigh.  He understood the necessity – he may not be able to die, but he wasn’t gunning for an eternity locked in a lab, either – but even with Sarah, it was lonely sometimes.</p><p>“I let Matt keep his memories,” Sarah added.</p><p>“You don’t think he’s going to tell anyone?”</p><p>“He might try,” Sarah said.  “He won’t succeed.”</p><p>Jim shook his head, smiling fondly.  “Are you ever going to get bored messing with Matt?”</p><p>“Everyone needs a hobby.”</p><p>Jim pulled her a little closer and enjoyed the feel of her skin against his as he started to drift toward sleep.  Before he closed his eyes, he murmured, “Can you stay awhile?”</p><p>Sarah smiled and her voice was full of warmth as she answered, “Always, Jim.  Always.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There will (probably, eventually) be a smutty outtake for those who are interested in what happened between Jim and the Queen of Blades in the last chapter.  Other than that, this story is done.  Thanks for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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